Industry News

McGraw-Hill Expands Education Tech Research

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 06/04/13

McGraw-Hill Education is continuing to woo talent from competitors and other organizations to build up its education business. The company recently announced that it would shortly be opening a new research and development and center of excellence operation in Boston's Innovation District dedicated to education technologies. The new office will bring together technologists, developers, education specialists, cognitive researchers, and others to cross-pollinate education innovations.

McGraw-Hill already develops a number of products and services in this space, including:

• LearnSmart Advantage, an adaptive learning suite;
• Connect and ConnectED, digital teaching and learning environments for higher education and K-12, respectively;
• ALEKS, an adaptive math program for use in higher ed;
• Practice, a suite of 3D multiplayer learning games;
• CINCH Learning, an online K-12 math and science curriculum; and
• Acuity InFormative Assessment, an assessment system for K-12.

Among recent McGraw-Hill Education hires are:

• Former Pearson Education CEO Peter Cohen, who has become McGraw-Hill school education group president;
• Pearson's former vice president of digital strategy for health science and careers, Richard Keaveny, who is now vice president of technical product management in higher ed;
• Former Headsprout/Mimio vice president of marketing and business development, Victoria Burwell, who has become senior vice president of marketing;
• CIO Ray Lowrey, formerly chief technology officer of Archipelago Learning (now edmentum);
• Archipelago Learning former executive vice president and chief technology officer, Bobby Babbrah, now senior vice president of learning platforms and architecture;
• Chief Digital Officer Stephen Laster, previously CIO of Harvard University's Business School; and
• CEO Buzz Waterhouse, who previously served as CEO at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and general manager of e-business services at IBM.

"We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform education, and investing in digital technologies — and the best digital talent that this country and the city of Boston have to offer — is a critical element of our strategy to do just that," said Laster. "McGraw-Hill Education is a $2 billion 'startup' that brings together a strong, established market presence and an agile, experimental and creative approach to product development that enables us to bring industry-leading innovations to market."

The company already runs centers of excellence in Bothell, WA; New York; Columbus, OH; San Francisco; and Israel. The Boston center will eventually employ up to 60 people.